Sheet metal fabrication
Sheet metal nesting software, online and free
Nestpact is online nesting software for sheet metal fabrication. Upload your parts as a DXF, set the kerf and gap for your cutter, and it packs them onto steel, stainless or aluminium sheets to get as many parts per sheet as the geometry allows.
It works the same whether your cutter is a laser, plasma or waterjet — you tell Nestpact the kerf, the edge offset and how freely parts may rotate, and it optimises the layout for material yield.
Set your stock in millimetres or inches: a metric sheet, a standard 4ft x 8ft (4x8) sheet metal blank, or a saved offcut. The layout, kerf spacing and exported file all follow the units you pick.
- Built for steel, stainless and aluminium sheet stock
- Works with laser, plasma and waterjet kerf settings
- True-shape nesting for high material utilization
- Grain-aware rotation locking for brushed or directional finishes
- Multi-sheet overflow with per-sheet quantity tracking
- Printable shop-floor report and DXF / G-code export
Material utilization is the bottom line
In a sheet metal shop the cost of a job is dominated by how much sheet it consumes. The difference between 70% and 85% utilization across a production run is a large material saving and fewer sheets to handle, store and pay for.
Nestpact runs several sorting and packing strategies per job and keeps the best, then compacts the result. Because it nests true part shapes rather than bounding boxes, concave brackets, rings and irregular profiles interlock the way a skilled nester would place them by hand — only faster and across far more arrangements.
Sheet metal gauge reference
Part DXFs carry no thickness, so it helps to know the gauge of the stock you are nesting onto when you set up the sheet. Common gauges in millimetres:
| Gauge | Steel | Stainless | Aluminium |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 ga | 0.91 mm | 0.95 mm | 0.81 mm |
| 18 ga | 1.21 mm | 1.27 mm | 1.02 mm |
| 16 ga | 1.52 mm | 1.59 mm | 1.29 mm |
| 14 ga | 1.90 mm | 1.98 mm | 1.63 mm |
| 12 ga | 2.66 mm | 2.78 mm | 2.05 mm |
| 10 ga | 3.42 mm | 3.57 mm | 2.59 mm |
| 7 ga | 4.55 mm | 4.76 mm | 3.67 mm |
Standard nominal thicknesses; mill tolerances vary. Aluminium follows the Brown & Sharpe (AWG) gauge, which differs from the steel Manufacturers’ Standard Gauge.
Grain direction and finish
Brushed stainless and directional finishes have to stay aligned. Lock rotation to 0° and 180° and Nestpact keeps every part grain-aligned while still packing tightly. For materials with no grain, open rotation up to 45° or free 5° steps to chase maximum density.
Production batches and offcuts
Set a quantity per part and Nestpact fills the sheet, overflowing the remainder onto more sheets and tracking how many of each part are placed across the whole run. After a nest you can save the leftover sheet area to a reusable offcut library, so the usable remnant from one job becomes stock for the next.
Finish by downloading the layout DXF, generating G-code, or printing a shop-floor report for the operator.
Recommended starting settings
A sensible starting point for sheet metal on a fiber laser. Match the kerf and gap to your actual cutter.
Tight on laser; widen toward the kerf-plus-HAZ rule on plasma.
Clears the sheet edge, clamps and any skeleton-support tabs.
Lock for brushed stock; otherwise 45° or free for density.
Production runs reward a harder search — every saved sheet compounds.
Frequently asked questions
Is the sheet metal nesting free?
Yes. Nestpact has a free plan that includes sheet metal nesting, multi-sheet layouts, the offcut library and DXF export. Nothing to install — try a nest first, then create a free account to keep nesting.
Which cutters does it support?
Any sheet cutter. Set the kerf and edge offset to match a laser, plasma or waterjet and the layout spaces parts accordingly. G-code export covers laser, plasma, waterjet and router.
Can it respect material grain?
Yes. Restrict rotation to 0°/180° in the settings and the nest keeps parts grain-aligned for brushed or directional stainless and aluminium.
What happens to the leftover sheet area?
After a nest you can save the usable remnant to your offcut library as a reusable material, then select it as the stock for a future job.